E-mail: http://www.informaction.org/index.php?main=helpus_contactusInformation for Action Information for Action is a non profit environmental organization committed to environmental change in our global community. Work on the website began in 1999 by President Rowland Benjamin and is maintained by a group of talented volunteers.

By Rowland Benjamin

1. The 'Select a Subject' drop down menu is the entry point for a quick and easy way to lobby your leaders, either by e-mail, fax, or letter.

The process involves three stages or three web page layers.

(i) The 'Select a Subject' menu is found on the home page, all the information pages and all the form pages.

Click on a subject from the drop down menu at the top left of the page and you will be taken to an information page where you can read about the problems facing the environment and humankind. At the bottom of each page is a 'What you can do' section which gives you some ideas on how you can help the environment with personal change and direct action, a link to the 'Green Sower Solutions Page', and a link which will retrieve green groups directly addressing the problem from the database.

(ii) The 'Select a Country' menu is found on all the information pages and all the form pages.

Click on the country where you live or would like to lobby and you will be taken to a form page. Sometimes an intermediate menu will appear in the right frame giving you a choice of companies, state governments as well as the federal government. If so, then click on the one you want to lobby.

(iii) On the form page a short list of key political or business leaders and their contact details will appear in the left frame and a blank form will appear in the right frame.

Click on the title of the person in the list who you wish to lobby to load their contact details and a starter letter into the form, and then add you own contact details.

The name of the political or business leader loads into Field 1 - To: The title of the political or business leader loads into Field 2 - Position: The name of the ministry or business loads into Field 3 - Organisation:The postal address of the political or business leader loads into Field 4 - Address: The e-mail of the political or business leader loads into Field 5 - E-mail: The fax number of the political or business leader loads into Field 6 - Fax:Enter your full name in Field 7 - From:Enter your postal addresses in Field 8 - Address:Enter your e-mail addresses in Field 9 - E-mail:The title of the topic loads into Field 10 - Subject:

While the letter is in the form you can modify it by deleting information or adding information from our website or from your own sources or experiences to make the letter more appropriate to your location and unique situation.

State your complaint, provide supporting evidence and suggest action that should be taken. Send it easily by e-mail or fax or, for the greatest effect, print it out, sign it and post it.

Do not include 'Dear (Name of person)' at the start of the letter or 'Yours sincerely' at the end of the letter, as this will be done automatically. If you click on the e-mail address of the contact this will open your e-mail program and you can write and send your own e-mail directly to the contact. This in effect bypasses the form/letter.

When you click on 'Preview E-mail' you can see the e-mail with all the fields inserted, as well as the changes you may have made to it. If you want to make further changes to the e-mail, close the e-mail preview and make them in the form. When you are happy with the results, close the preview, and click on 'Send E-mail'.

Click 'Preview Letter' to see the letter with all the details from the fields inserted and changes you have made, but in a letter format. When you are happy with the letter you need to remove the header and footer. To do this click File/ Page Setup and delete any text in the Header and Footer fields. Then click OK. To print the letter click File/Print. Then click OK. Sign the letter and send it by post.

2. ‘Search Database’ contains four search engines.

a) The first search field, at the top right of the page, reads ‘Search the database to find politicians, businesses or non-government organisations’.

This gives you access to the contact details of thousands of politicians, business leaders, organisations and environmental groups. Enter all or part of a name or address, or the name of a country or one or two keywords. Select the type of search you want AND / OR / Show similar terms.

b) The second search field on the right of the page reads ‘Search the website'.

You can search the text on the entire website by typing in any keyword. For example by typing in Car it will bring up all pages with the word 'Car'. By clicking on the link it will take you to the page and the word 'Car' will be shown highlighted.

c) The third search field on the right of the page reads ‘Search archived articles’.

You can search for articles written on environmental and political issues by a wide range of writers. Click on the ‘Select a Subject’ menu and choose the topic from the list.

d) The field on the top left of the page reads ‘Select a Field’. This scroll down menu provides you with a fixed list of the names and contact details of politicians and leaders from different countries and organisations from around the world.

If your organisation or website details are not on our website and you would like to be included, please write to us with your details. You can find a form for this on the ‘Join/Help Us’ page under the title ‘Submit your group’.

Also please contact us if any of the information on our website is incorrect. You can find our email address in the 'About Us' section.

3. 'Eco Freako' is a quiz to improve your knowledge of the issues. The answers to the questions are found within the body of information contained on the website. To facilitate better learning the questions are phrased in the negative. Make sure you read them carefully.

The quiz has three levels of difficulty. A handy hint button is available in the easy and medium levels. Over one hundred cartoons and animations can be won by playing 'Eco Freako - the Quiz'.

In the easy quiz there are five easy level questions. Each correct answer gives a score of 20. Your maximum score is 100. All hints are free.

In the medium quiz there are five medium to hard level questions. Your maximum score is 100. Hints cost. If you do not use your hint then each correct answer gives a score of 20 and if you get it wrong you will score 0 for that question. If you use a hint and answer it right you will score 10 points i.e. you will only get only 50% of the points. But if you get it wrong you will lose 10 points.

In the hard quiz there are ten medium to hard level questions. You score 10 for each correct question answered. Your maximum score is 100. No hints are available.

In all levels of the quiz a correct answer gives you a free cartoon and a 'Green Sower'. An incorrect answer gives you a 'Grim Reaper'. A record of your score is provided throughout the quiz.

At the end of the quiz, you always win an animated cartoon. The quality of the animation depends on how well you scored. At the end of the quiz you are also given a more detailed breakdown of your result, including the number of questions correctly answered, the number of questions incorrectly answered and your score as a percentage. Your previous score is provided so you can try and beat it. The questions are randomly selected so you will always play a different game.

4. The 'Fun Page' takes a look at the two extremes of our environmental future. The Grim Reaper and Green Sower are your guides. These pages are for the kids and the young at heart. This page also contains a link to archived cartoons.

5. 'Lyrics and MP3s' includes poems and words of environmental songs, some great pictures, a music video and an MP3 which changes every few months. The MP3 may be a part of one of the songs listed, or part of a piece of zoo music (ZOOM). ZOOM is made from animal sounds, mixed with drums, bass and various techno sounds.

6. The Health website is a database containing information on thousands of chemicals, including their effects on the environment and the health of humans. Select a cause from the list of chemicals in the drop down menu. This gives you a page with a physical description of the chemical, a list of some of the names it goes by, how it gets into the body, its effects on the environment and a list of symptoms that can result from its exposure in humans.

Select one of the symptoms in the symptoms scroll down menu. This opens a page with a list of other chemicals that may produce that symptom, plus information on treatment and first aid. When a symptom is followed by the words '(in animals)' this means that the symptoms have only been shown to occur when the chemical has been tested on animals.

7. 'Join/Help Us' includes a 'Join us' page were you can join Information for Action to receive a half-yearly e-mail newsletter and be kept informed of new pages on the website; a 'Link to us' page where you can download our logo and details and link to us from your website; a 'Tell a friend' page where you can send a friend an e-mail telling them about our website; an 'Upload a photo' page where you can send us a photograph that you have taken and which we can use, copyright free on our website; a 'Make a donation' page where, if you like, you can send some money to help us continue developing and maintaining our website; a 'Volunteer' page where you can help to make this site even better; a 'Buy a T-shirt' page where you can buy one of our t-shirts or windcheater sweatshirt jackets with our logo and message; a 'Print our leaflet' page where you can download our leaflet, then print it and distribute it in your area.

8. 'Green Ideas" is a mixture of articles on environmental and political philosophy. Topics include: Information and the media; Direct Action; Government; Personal Choice and lifestyle; How to Lobby and Letters to the Editor wich provides you with information about how to be effective in lobbying and writing letters.

9. 'Site Help' reviews each of the pages on our website and explains how to use the website.

10. 'About Us' contains our contact details and the contact details of organisations we are associated with, our guiding principles, a list of the members of the Executive Committee, the volunteers who currently work for Information for Action and volunteers who have worked for Information for Action in the past.

11. 'Latest Newsletter' reviews the our achievements over the past six months.

12. 'Printable version' removes all the icons on the left of the page and so enables you to print only the text.